Returning the Favor

“I went to Norwich because I knew I was going to be entering service because of my age and health,” said Norwich University Trustee Bill Lasky ’69, who enrolled during the Vietnam War era. “I wasn’t going to be accepted to Harvard or some places I applied to, but I wanted to go to a school that had some great education and good moral integrity. Norwich being a military university – the most senior one – and having ROTC that allowed me to graduate as an officer attracted me. Norwich became the school I chose.”

Lasky began his lifelong business journey when he set foot on The Hill. “I took business because my father was a businessman,” said Lasky. “I wanted to be prepared when I got into the service and to later enter the business world, whether I started in sales or whatever – it didn’t matter. I knew that business runs the world, and so therefore I wanted to do that.” He remembers the demanding curriculum but values the ways that it improved his education.

“I took business because my father was a businessman,”

When he graduated and commissioned, Lasky put his education to the test immediately when he arrived at his new temporary home in South Korea. “The commanding officer and squadron commander reported in and told me that they have a big problem there: they only had three aircraft that were flyable out of 36 because they couldn’t get parts, and their mission was compromised without flyable aircraft.” Lasky was inserted into his position as a first lieutenant even though it was a captain’s slot because he was the only one that had the appropriate training. “It was really a business issue,” said Lasky. “How do I get parts to my unit in South Korea when we’re the lowest priority of all installations worldwide?” Initially he “stole” parts from other American aircrafts around the country and even spent some of his own money to purchase inexpensive parts; though, “figuring out the system” was his biggest accomplishment. “I figured out how to get parts faster by changing the delivery location. There was a strip in South Korea along the Han River that was actively ‘hot,’ so I found an address of an installation that I had my parts shipped to. Within 90 days we had all the parts we needed.”

“They had a lot of math like statistics, calculus, and other things at the time, and that made it tough,” he said. “But, it was enhancing the value of the education and the criteria of business school, which in the end, I thought was an excellent result.”

His business education gained at Norwich continued serving him throughout his life as he rose to executive positions in his career. Eventually, he felt compelled to provide support to the business school that provided his foundation. “Having been a business major and businessman, I decided that my next contribution to the school would be focused on the business school,” he said of his generous donation. The values, ethics, and Captain Alden Partridge’s commitment to the citizen-soldier are central to Lasky’s affinity for the school and he aims to ensure that spirit that benefitted him is carried forward.

“Being educated always helps people to be able to perform better and be more successful.”

He knows that his feelings towards the school are part of the common thread that he shares with other graduates, and that he is one of many who will continue to support the school. “I look back and compare my experiences at Norwich compared to other people’s experiences in other schools,” said Lasky. “I felt that it really was a school that provided more to me than I understood when I was there.”